Q: Don’t the new amnesty and “stretch” rules set the Heat up for ample cheap labor for years to come? — Edwin.

A: Without question. Players cut in the upcoming amnesty round will have their previous contracts fully paid off, so they would seem more likely to accept lesser money elsewhere, which, essentially, would be tacked on to their previous deals. The revelation of a “stretch” provision, which would allow teams to cut players and stretch payments for an extended period, would appear to have a similar impact down the road. To a degree, the NBA could be entering a golden era of cheap labor (at least for players’ new teams, not the teams stuck with paying off their clunky old deals). But, inevitably, there will probably be some restriction added to prevent teams such as the Heat from loading up with “amnesty” and “stretch” players.

Q: The players say that the owners pre-planned the lockout and their demands. But haven’t the players said they planned and saved for two years? Aren’t they just as guilty? — Eric.

A: Or smart enough to see they were about to get bullied.

Q: I can see it already, the Heat win it all in a strike-shortened season and the haters will say it isn’t legit. — Jeff.

A: No matter how a ring is secured, with this mix there will be some sort of negative spin. But I do think winning a title after anything other than a November-to-April regular-season marathon does change the championship equation.

Q: Don’t we have to assume even if the season is lost they would extend Spo at least an additional year to give him the shot he would have gotten? — Justin.

A: Absolutely. Again, I would assume that as soon as the lockout is over, the Heat will announce an extension of Erik Spoelstra’s deal. That doesn’t mean he has to serve out the full length of any extension, but merely that a suitable vote of confidence (and contract guarantee) is in place.

Q: For years we have held David Stern in the highest regard, the world’s caretaker of ”The Game” and deeply concerned about where it was going. Now that the lockout is looking more dire and the NBA is taking a beating after its most successful season in years, has the perception changed? — Juan.

A: Yes, to a man not all that concerned with his image or his legacy, but rather sucking every last possible dollar out of the system for his prime constituency, the owners. David’s media tour two weeks ago soiled what had been a mostly positive image.

The early days of baseball were much, much worse. So bad that after just a little research, I could completely see why the players took $ to throw the 1919 World Series. Today’s professional athletes have nothing on those guys when it comes to draconian working conditions, and that was the white players. Blacks need not even apply.

Lets say you were an actor(the similarity here is that you work in front of the public, i.e. – your “the talent”). You get a role on a NBC TV sit-com and you “shine”. Thus, you get tons of fan mail and eventailly get movie roles and endorsments thrown your way. Do you think your agent is going to think that NBC deserves a slice of that pie?

Q: For years we have held David Stern in the highest regard, the world’s caretaker of ”The Game” and deeply concerned about where it was going. Now that the lockout is looking more dire and the NBA is taking a beating after its most successful season in years, has the perception changed? — Juan.

A: Yes, to a man not all that concerned with his image or his legacy, but rather sucking every last possible dollar out of the system for his prime constituency, the owners. David’s media tour two weeks ago soiled what had been a mostly positive image.

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He was already making biased comments way prior to that. I wrote here about a month ago that Stern’s remarks were condescending towards the players and that he needed to resign when the season was over – and that was before the actual lockout, but it was obvious even then. Stern has been nothing but a circus clown since the summer.

IMO, Stern has caused irreparable damage to the NBA. For starters, how do you go back to promoting your players as god-like athletes when you have spent months painting over them with a devil brush? They will try, but the fans won’t buy it.

AS usual, the Dolphins found a way to lose a game in 33 seconds after leading by 15 points. I’ve never seen a Dolphin team so pathetic losing the game in half a minute time. It is time for SparaYes to resign and replace the rest of the players and the assistant coaches.

I thought watching the Dolphins would be an alternative because of the demise of the NBA but the result is so disgusting.

I wouldn’t be surprise if the Dolphins suffer a 0-16 records and the worst team in the NFL. What a disgrace!

I never was really a Lebron fan, mainly because of how ESPN use to ride his jock an annoint him MJ, but I jsut don;t see how he himself can be unlikable as a person to a fan. He’s a young guy as a great player and acts like it. Has the heart of kid enjoying himself and is always somewhere doing some charity and just playing ball. Its really gotten pathetic all the hate he gets. The criticisms are fair, but the way everyone has turned on him (hope u guys saw that Stephen A Smith and Skip Bayless debate) is disgusting. All of a sudden he comes to Miami and all the talking heads get up off their knee pads and pick up the pitch forks….

The dolphins made history. According to elias bureau, no team that was leading by 15 points with under 3 minutes to play, lost.

congratulations to the history setters!

Im not big on conspiracies, but if i was, i would think the fins lost on purpose..
Lets think about everything that had to happen in order to lose that game under 3 minutes to play.
1) denver had to score a TD…
2) then recover an onside kick. (12% success rate historically, I believe)
3) then score another TD, AND a 2 point conversion.

all done under 3 minutes, with denver having no timeouts!

then, the opposition has to score in OT.
and the team that gets the ball first, wins the game about 70% of the time…and dolphins got the ball first!

My son and I calculated that the chances for all these things to happen, would be about 1 out of 75.

Thats why I feel the fins had to try to lose. or at least some of them did….

Sporano is gone. Its not a matter of “if”, its just a clock ticking now,,,

I think the fins will not hire a permanent coach until after the draft, and then hire a guy who our number 1 pick (if its a QB) is completely in tune with….

HOPEFULLY THE AMNESTY CLAUSE BRINGS SOME CHEAP LABOR TO CHICAGO. I CAN SEE D. ROSE RUNNING THE FLOOR WITH BOUGHT OUT PLAYERS LIKE VINCANITY, T-MAC AND MAYBE EVEN A TOP TIER PLAYER THAT GETS WAVED. THERES NOT ENOUGH BALL 2 GO AROUND IN MIAMI………I HOPE POSSIBLE AMNESTY CANDIDATES R READING THIS.

IRA WINDERMAN is embarking on his 24th season covering the Miami Heat for the Sun-Sentinel, witnessing more than 1,900 of the team's games (thus the bags under the eyes and hair loss not truly depicted by the accompanying photo). With the help of antacids (during the lean years) and a sense of humor (during the Riley dictatorship), he has been able to remain a courtside fixture at AmericanAirlines Arena, a veteran 12 years older than coach Erik Spoelstra. Only former trainer Ron Culp had attended more Heat games, but, then again, Winderman has yet to tape his first ankle.